IT ONLY TAKES A SPARK: FROM ABSENCE TO AWAKENING (NEH. 1)
In William J. Bennett¡¦s book, The Book of Virtues, is a story of how England¡¦s King Richard III lost his kingdom in the late 15th century.
King Richard III had sent his groom to the blacksmith to ready a horse for battle; however, the blacksmith had no more iron after supplying the king¡¦s whole army for the last few days. Fortunately, the blacksmith found a bar of iron enough to make four horseshoes but, unfortunately, after nailing on three shoes, he was short.
When the blacksmith informed the groom that he was short one or two more nails, the groom exclaimed, ¡§I told you I can¡¦t wait. I hear the trumpets now. Can¡¦t you just use what you¡¦ve got?¡¨ The blacksmith repeatedly warned the groom that the last shoe was not as dependable as the others. Nevertheless, the groom urged the blacksmith to hurry and finish the job or suffer the king¡¦s wrath.
As the battle raged on, one of the horseshoes fell off the horse of King Richard as he was riding to his solders¡¦ aid. Of course, the frightened animal fell, and then ran away.
When all was almost lost, the frantic king waved his sword in the air and shouted his known last words: ¡§A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!¡¨ The battle inspired a famous saying:
¡§For want of a nail, a shoe was lost,
For want of a shoe, a horse was lost,
For want of a horse, a battle was lost,
For want of a battle, a kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail!¡¨
(Adapted, The Book of Virtues 198-200, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1993)
About 145 years after Jerusalem¡¦s captivity in 586 B.C., midway through King Artaxerxes¡¦ reign (464-423 B.C.), and four and a half centuries before Jesus was born, a promising civil servant in the king¡¦s court caught the vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He was not the first man to lead the exiles back to Jerusalem; Zerubabbel the prince led the first group after seventy years of exile and Ezra the priest the next group. What was unique about Nehemiah was that he was not a prince or a priest; he was a professional, a volunteer, and a layman, in the loose sense of the word. He was a high-ranking official in the king¡¦s court, so he did not have the luxury to leave work, drop everything, and travel abroad. Further, life outside of Babylon was a blur to him; he was born and raised in Persia. In other words, he is your typical ABC, Asian-American, or 1.5 generation. All that changed one day. Before that day, he was educated, cultured, and privileged, but now he was knowledgeable, informed, and practical.
What can one person do? What has to happen before God can use a brave, able and willing individual?
REPLACE INDIFFERENCE WITH GENUINE COMPASSION (1:1-4)
1:1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. (1:1-4.)
Frank Layden, who coached Utah Jazz for eight seasons in the eighties, had his hands full with a talented basketball player he had difficulty motivating. (Finally, in exasperation with the player¡¦s performance, attitude, and progress, he summoned the troubled player to his office for a heart to heart talk.) The coach looked the player in the eye, and asked, "Son, what is it with you. Is it ignorance or apathy?¡¨ The listless player replied, "Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care." (Sports Illustrated "They Said it!" 1990 Oxmoor House 26)
What is indifference? To be indifferent is to feel nothing, to represent nothing, and to value nothing.
In England, a graffiti question scrawled on a wall asked: ¡§What is apathy?¡¨ On its side was an answer in graffiti: ¡§Who cares?¡¨
Indifference is akin to Nero¡¦s response while much of Rome was burning in A. D. 64, pretending nothing¡¦s happening while the city was on fire for nine days and ten of Rome’s fourteen districts were in ruin. While two thirds of Rome were leveled, Nero was playing his fiddle miles away in a cool coastal resort. (Historians suggested Nero himself set the city on fire and conveniently placed the blame on Christians, so that he could build an elaborate series of palaces in its place.) (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_rome/)
When you hear about God¡¦s work faltering, people¡¦s conditions worsening, and needed resources lacking, how would you respond? Nehemiah shed tears of compassion for people in faraway Jerusalem even though he was in distant Babylon (4). He cared for people he did not know, those he had not seen or met. They were far from his presence but close to his heart; he felt for them and his heart beat for them. We call this compassion. Compassion is from the words: com + passion, feelings put together.
Compassion makes a person uncomfortable when another is troubled, ache when another is hurting, and torn when another is agonizing. Nehemiah was shaken up, reduced to tears, saddened, distressed, and grieved in his heart. He felt the pain of his people. They were outnumbered by their neighbors, marginalized as a people, and isolated from the world. They were practically helpless, defenseless, and powerless (v 3). The Jews were picked on, laughed at, and tore apart by their enemies. Nehemiah knew, sensed, and cared that the Jews¡¦ future were in jeopardy. They had no protection or sympathy or backing from others, Funds, resources, and personnel needed to rebuild were scarce. Extending a loan to the Jews, in any day¡¦s terms, would be bad and risky business, financial and political suicide.
What do you have to offer today? Nehemiah had money, prestige and connections but those were nothing compared to what he had to offer - a heart of compassion, a heart of gold, a heart of flesh and blood, and not a heart of stone, ice, or steel.
However, compassion is essential but, by itself, is insufficient.
REPLACE IGNORANCE WITH GENUINE CONFESSION (1:5-10)
5 Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ’If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.?10 "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. (1:5-11).
A mother of a teenager once complained to me about the five possible answers her teenage son would say to her in the event of a conversation. He was becoming more and more economical with his words and their conversation was becoming less and less engaging. The answers were: (1) "I don’t know," (2) "I guess," (3) "It’s OK," (4) "Maybe," and (5) "Huh?"
One time in frustration she countered, "Son, are those five words the extent of your vocabulary?" To her consternation, she discovered one more. The boy replied, "No."
An Arab proverb tells of four groups of people:
He who knows and knows that he knows; he is a wise man- follow him!
He who knows and knows not that he knows; he is asleep- wake him!
He who knows not and knows that he knows not; he is simple-teach him.
He who knows not and knows not that he knows not; he is a fool- shun him! (7,700 Illustration # 7371)
Nehemiah acknowledged his ignorance to God in three great confessions. His confession was riveting, given today¡¦s political climate, inclusive world, and vague terms or meaningless rhetoric. The first confession is in verse 7 - ¡§We have acted very wickedly toward You.¡¨ In Hebrew one way of emphasizing or punctuating one¡¦s words is to restate a word twice. This is the only confession that uses the Hebrew words for ¡§wicked¡¨ or ¡§corrupt¡¨ twice to admit the seriousness of one¡¦s deeds. In Hebrew it is ¡§We acted corrupt, corrupt against You.¡¨ Note that Nehemiah used the personal pronoun ¡§we.¡¨ He wrestled with the past, interacted with the people, and regarded himself as guilty even though he wasn¡¦t born at the time of the exile. That¡¦s the kind of attitude God understands, welcomes and accepts.
The second confession is in verse 9: ¡§But if you return to Me and obey My commands¡K¡¨
Nehemiah claimed God¡¦s promise that one can return to Him no matter where they were, what they had done and how helpless they were. Confession is not beating or tearing yourself up over what was done before, but reminding yourself again what can be done now. Previously, Nehemiah, confessed negatively who caused wrongdoing, what was done, and who was offended, but now he claimed positively how amends can be made, where it can be made, and who had the power to make it.
Finally, Nehemiah appealed to God because of His willingness to forgive, redeem and embrace His people- ¡§They are Your Servants and Your People, Whom You Redeemed¡¨ (1:10) God forgives Israel because of His relationship to Israel as Lord, Ruler, and Savior. No one cares more for God¡¦s people more than God himself.
REPLACE INACTION WITH GENUINE COMMITMENT (1:11)
11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.
(Neh 1:11)
A rich man asked his minister, "Why is it that everybody calls me stingy when everyone knows that when I die I’m going to leave everything I have to this church?"
The minister said, "Let me tell you a story of the pig and the cow. The pig was unpopular and the cow was beloved. This puzzled the pig. The pig said to the cow, `People speak warmly of your gentle nature and your soulful eyes. They think you’re gorgeous because each day you give them milk and cream. But what about me? I give them everything I have. I give bacon and ham. I provide bristles for brushes. They even pickle my feet. Yet no one likes me. Why is that?’¡?
The minister continued: Do you know what the cow answered? She said,`Perhaps it’s because I give while I’m still living." (Business)
Nehemiah had been indifferent and ignorant far too long and now he had woke from his deep slumber. His commitment is outlined by his last line in verse 11: ¡§Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."
Nehemiah was praying for others and yet he was really praying for himself. He did not pray for success of God¡¦s servants ¡V plural noun - but servant- singular. The singular noun is none other than himself. He wasn¡¦t praying for prophets, priests, and sages to appear, emerge, or develop. Nehemiah was eager to see God¡¦s work begin with him, and not without him. He did not pray for others but himself to meet the difficult job of approaching the king. Martin Luther the great Protestant reformer said, ¡§Pray as if everything depends on God, then work as if everything depends on you.¡¨
Prayer was not an intellectual exercise or an emotional outpouring for Nehemiah; it was practical workout. As someone once said, ¡§If it¡¦s got to be, it¡¦s up to me.¡¨ Do you know how long Nehemiah was involved in his short and long term endeavor? The short- term answer was 52 days (Neh 6:15), and the long term-commitment was can be found analyzing Nehemiah 1:1, the first recorded date when he began, and Nehemiah 13:6, the last recorded travel.
Conclusion: Nehemiah was a busy and important man. cupbearer to the king, he was a trusted servant and a close advisor to the king. At times, he saw no way of getting away, setting foot outside the palace. Confession is good only if it is healthy and biblical; confession need not be grandiose, extreme or overstated for it to be effective. Someone compared the silence of the church to sleeping beauty. The church with amnesia. Are you still in a deep sleep? Are you a sleeping partner? Are you aware that what the Lord is doing around the world, what he can do with you, and what people need the Lord, priority in their lives, what is going on around them, and God¡¦s direction for their lives. Do you know that one person can make a difference? Not all is lost The Lord is a stirring, sending, and saving Lord.
Victor Yap
http://epreaching.blogspot.com/
www.riversidecma.org
www.preachchrist.com (Chinese sermons only)
